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Twelve entrepreneurs from 9 African countries will share a $1 million award to launch and scale their business ideas with the help of the African Entrepreneurship Award, a competition powered by BMCE Bank of Africa.
The first prize ($ 100,000) was for Louise Williamson (South Africa), who founded Sustainability Professionals to solve cooking needs for rural schools and communities.
Allen Kimambo from Tanzania received the second prize for creating Zaidi General Enterprises to save trees, clean the environment, and provide incentives for the community. Folashade Amusa from Nigeria was given the third prize for her project Vicfold Recyclers which meets the need to recycle polythene, plastics and cans.
Adnan Mohammed from Kenya was also rewarded for his project Ecodudu that harvests the larvae and produces protein-rich animal feeds and fertilizers. From Nigeria, Sylvester Mujakperuo won for his company Saint Michelles and Joey Limited that recycles waste paper and reduces over-reliance on trees. Kwame Ababio, founder of Green Afro-Palms was also rewarded for helping smallholder farmers increase the profits from their palm oil, use trees and land sustainably, and improve the livelihood of West African palm farmers.
Flavien Simo from Cameroon also won for his project that produces high-volume food directly at the point of sale, and cancels conventional fossil-fuel logistics. Paul Bartels was a winner for his project that develops Waterbok Community Fire-Fighting Cart.
The innovation prize (50,000) was awarded to Meryam El Ouafi from Morocco who founded Green Engineering Mission that eliminates water waste and ensures plants receive optimal moisture. The same prize was for Badr Idrissi a Moroccan entrepreneur who created Atlan Space that allows drones to monitor very large ocean areas, analyze shipping traffic and take steps to protect marine ecosystems. Geoffrey Ssekatawa (Uganda) was awarded for the collection and recycling of lubricants and Christelle Kwizera (Rwanda) for a project to purify and distribute drinking water to vulnerable communities.
The 12 winners were selected by a jury chaired by BMCE Bank of Africa president, Othman Benjelloun on Monday in Casablanca.
